Highway marker



April 1961 G. STOLARCZYK ET AL 2,981,149

HIGHWAY MARKER Filed Oct. 28, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet l Fig.

./ Gregory Sta/crazyk Jerry Sta/arczyk IN VEN TORS.

April 1961 G. STOLARCZYK ETAL 2,981,149

HIGHWAY MARKER Filed Oct. 28, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 1 2/ Fig-3 K l J 2 W7 :7 7:

4 V 4 Y t g l9 F 1 4 Gregory .Sfolarczy/r Jerry Sta/arczy/r INVENTORS.

United St t "1 HIGHWAY MARKER Gregory Stolarczyk, 6208 Vandalia Ave.,and Jerry Stolarczyk, 2822 Park Drive, both of Cleveland, Ohio FiledOct. 28, 1957, Ser. No. 692,614

H Claims. (CI. 88-79) Our invention relates to improvements in highwaymarkers for cement highways, streets and the like.

The primary object of our invention is to provide a; 3

simply constructed, inexpensive, durable, device for installing incement or concrete to mark a dividing .line between lanes in a highwayand which is resilient to give under the weight of a vehicle passingfrom one lane to another, will not injure automobile tires and isreadily visible especially at night.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary view inplan of a plurality of our improvedmarkers installed in a highway to divide the same into two lanes;

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view in perspective of one of themarkers installed;

Figure 3 is an enlarged view in vertical transverse section taken on theline 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a view in horizontal section taken on the line 4-4 of Figure3, and

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view in vertical section taken onthe line 5-5 of Figure 2.

Referring to the drawings by numerals, the marker 1 of our inventioncomprises a casing box 2 preferably rectangular and of cast iron andwhich is designed to be embedded in concrete or cement 3 while thelatter is soft and during building of a highway. The casing 1 isembedded with its top flush with the concrete or cement 3, or asphalt,as the case may be. A bottom external flange 5 is formed on the casing 2for anchoring the same securely in place. An internalrim flange 7 offlat form is provided in the casing 1 for a particular purpose presentlyseen.

A flat top dome-shaped marker block 9 projects upwardly out of the box 1and is yieldingly supported by a helical spring 11 seated on the bottomof the box. The spring 11 projects into a frusto-conical socket 13 inthe bottom of the block 9 and is crowned by a dished washer 14 fittingin the socket 13. The block 9 is formed preferably of white or yellowrubber for visibility in daylight and provided around its bottom with alateral flange 15 which engages the rim flange 7 to limit upwardmovement of said block. For ready removability and replacement, theflange 15 is notched or cut out at opposite sides thereof as at 17, 19so that the block 9 may be bent for removal for replacement purposes.Preferably the block 9 is generally rectangular with rounded sides 21protruding out of the casing so that vehicles will not chip the block.

Above the box 1 the block 9 is provided in two opposite sides thereof,constituting the front and rear sides with a pair of horizontally spacedpreferably rectangular reflectors 23 embedded in said sides forreflecting light rays from an automobile head light. The reflectors 23,lP- te ts 5 1 6.

are clear glass, knurled on the back as at 25, and set back in the block9 and beveled edged as shown in Figure 5 for securing the same in place.As will be seen the reflectors slant upwardly and rearwardly to catchlight rays from oncoming automobile head lights.

The operation of our invention will be readily understood, On straightstretches of highway for instance as 'shownat 27 the markers 1 arearranged in a straight row with white blocks 9 preferably. 0n curves, asshown at 29, the markers 1 are preferably staggered and alternate withwhite and yellow blocks 9. When a vehicle runs "over a block 9. theblock is depressed into the casing Z and returned by the spring 11 assoon as the vehicle passes theblock.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous vmodifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the. art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown and'described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention asclaimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A light reflective road marker comprising a hollow casing havingbottom and side walls and a flat top with an opening therein, said topincluding lateral flanges projecting inwardly into said opening wherebysaid casing may be recessed into a highway with said flanges and topflush with the highway surface, a body received in said casing havingside walls and a top surface and slidable through said opening andhaving outwardly projecting flanges engageable with the undersides ofsaid inwardly projecting flanges and normally preventing removal of saidbody from said casing, spring means in said casing engaging said bottomwall and said body and yieldingly urging the body into a positionprotruding upwardly through said opening, flat rectangular reflectorsrecessed and secured in said body at the junction of the side walls andtop surface of the latter and inclined to both said last mentioned sidewalls and top surface and having reflecting surfaces inclined upwardlyand rearwardly from the body side walls to catch and reflect light raysfrom the headlights of automobiles approaching upon a highway, andwherein the outwardly projecting flanges of said body are of a resilientdeformable material and have peripherally recessed portions enabling theoutwardly projecting flanges to be deformed sufficiently to enablepassage of said body through said opening.

2. A light reflective road marker comprising a hollow casing havingbottom and side walls and a flat top with an opening therein, said topincluding lateral flanges projecting inwardly into said opening wherebysaid casing may be recessed into a highway with said flanges and topflush with the highway surface, a body received in said casing havingside walls and a top surface and slidable through said opening andhaving outwardly projecting flanges engageable with the undersides ofsaid inwardly projecting flanges and normally preventing removal of saidbody from said casing, spring means in said casing engaging said bottomwall and said body and yieldingly urging thev body into a positionprotruding upwardly through said opening, flat rectangular reflectorsrecessed and secured in said body at the junction of the side walls andtop surface of the latter and inclined to both said last mentioned sidewalls and top surface and having reflecting surfaces inclined upwardlyand rearwardly from the body side walls to catch and reflect light raysfrom the headlights of automobiles approaching upon a highway, andwherein said body and said outwardly projecting flanges are integral andare of a resiliently deformable material.

3. A light reflective road marker comprising a hollow lights ofapproaching vehicles,

casing having a bottom and side walls and a top with an opening therein,said top including projecting flanges extending inwardly into saidopening whereby said casmg maybe recessed into a highway with saidflanges and top flush with the highway surface, a body received in saidcasing and slidable through said opening and having outwardly projectingflanges engageable, with the underside of said inwardly projectingflanges and normally retaining the body within the casing, resilientmeans within the casing engaging the bottom surface of the body andresiliently urging it into a position protruding upwardly through saidopening, substantially flat reflectors recessed into and secured withinsaid body near its top and having their reflective surfaces inclinedupwardly whereby to catch and reflect light rays from the headandwherein said flanges of said body are of a resilient deformable materialand have recesses therein for increasing their flexibility whereby theflanges may be deformed sufliciently to enable passage of said bodythrough said opening.

4 A plurality of light reflective markers as defined ,in claim 3embedded in a road having straight and curved portions, the markers inthe curved portion being disposed in staggered relation and the markersin the straight portion being disposed in -a straight line whereby toafford different visual signals for said portions.

5. The combination of claim 3 wherein said body has a flat bottomsurface with an upwardly extending recess therein, said spring meansincluding an inverted cup-like disk seated in said recess, said springmeans extending into said recess and disk and abutting the latter.

References Cited in the file of this patent

